Staff - Timetables & Room Bookings

Reach out to the Scheduling team scheduling@une.edu.au

The Scheduling team.

We are part of the Estate and Built Environment (EBE) directorate. The team is happy to talk you through any questions you may have, such as how to read your timetable, how to provide timetable data, key dates and other important information.

You can reach the team via scheduling@une.edu.au

Are you listed as the Unit Coordinator in the UNE Course Handbook? If not, contact your School Course Manager to update this information.

Is your unit offered in online only mode? Timetables aren't built for online units, but if you would like one, the Scheduling team are happy to create one for you.

For any other reason, contact the Scheduling team scheduling@une.edu.au

It is important to notify the Scheduling team if you become aware of a clash.

While a clash free timetable is not guaranteed, it is built to avoid clashes between as many core and prescribed units within a suggested course plan as possible. Where possible, listed units can be considered depending on the number offered.

If it is a staff clash (staff are timetabled to be in two different places at the same time), please let the Scheduling team know as soon as possible. During the data collection phase, it is important to ensure that all teaching or other support staff that may be required to teach into a unit, are detailed. This is a commonly overlooked piece of information which means there is no way for the scheduling system can ensure staffing clashes do not occur.

If your unit experiences a higher than expected increase in enrolments, you may need to consider additional teaching activities (i.e. more tutorials or a second practical) or larger capacity rooms to accommodate increased student numbers. If your unit experiences lower than expected enrolments, you may be able to reduce the number of repeat classes and/or relinquish rooms no longer required.

In both cases, it is important that you let the Scheduling team know as soon as possible so that any necessary adjustments can be made.

The University’s standard on-campus teaching hours are from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday. If you are a full-time staff member but advise you are unavailable to teach during specific times or on specific days, you will need to provide justification and Head of School approval.

The number of teaching weeks for each trimester are detailed here: Primary Parameters for Principal Dates.

Even though the timetable shows on-campus classes running for the full hour, the typical length for teaching activities comprises 50 minute periods to allow for breaks, travel time between classes, and set-up time for teaching staff. Classes are to start on the hour and finish 10 minutes before the hour.

If your timetable is still in draft (and not yet available to students) simply let the Scheduling team know and they will do their best to accommodate your needs. Please bear in mind this is not always possible due to competing needs, resource unavailability or the inability for students to be in two places at once (student clash).

UNE campuses operate 5 days a week, so please don't ask not to teach on Monday or Friday unless you are a part-time staff member or have a special arrangement approved by your Head of School.

If your timetable is published and available to students, changes can only be made in exceptional and unforeseen circumstances, such as increased enrolments, changes in personal circumstances, or unavoidable absence. Students plan their lives, family and work around their timetables so changes must be kept to a minimum. In most cases, you will also need to seek Head of School approval.

Dates and durations of Intensive Schools are managed by each school. Academic/Course Managers submit these details via CourseLoop for publishing in the UNE Course Handbook. It is important to work closely with your Academic/Course Manager and colleagues during the planning phase to ensure intensives schools for core units are not planned to occur at the same time to avoid spaces, staff and students being double booked.

Not all Intensive Schools fall within the official period. While most occur in April (Trimester 1) or August (Trimester 2), some are also scheduled prior to the commencement of the Trimester in which the unit is offered (e.g. early February for Trimester 1 or early June for Trimester 2), and others occur in the week/s leading up to the official period or in the week/s preceding the official period. These early and late Intensive Schools may end up competing with on-campus classes for teaching space, so please keep this in mind during the planning stage.

It is important to note that the Scheduling team does not determine intensive school dates and therefore is not responsible for any staff, student or space clashes that may occur.

Always refer to the UNE Course Handbook for dates – not the timetable.

Twice each calendar year, usually in August-September for Trimester 1 offerings for the following year, and February-March for Trimester 2 and 3 offerings. Collection requests are based on information published in the UNE Course Handbook. If you are requested to provide data for a unit that you are not responsible for, please contact your School's Academic/Course Manager in the first instance to have the Handbook updated and notify the Scheduling team.

If you will be absent during the collection period, please ask a colleague to provide this on your behalf.

Building a timetable is a complex exercise with many moving parts including; thousands of students enrolled in hundreds of different unit combinations; thousands of teaching activities with different staff and specialist space requirements; regular changes to courses and units, and competing needs of hundreds of unit coordinators. Throw lots of manual data handling in the mix then multiply it all by the number of offerings (over 1,000) each and every trimester. It's a lot and there is only a tiny team building all those timetables ...

Unit coordinator information is taken directly from the UNE Course Handbook. If you are listed against a unit or offering, you will continue to receive correspondence from us until this is updated. The Scheduling team can't change or update the Handbook.

To have the UNE Course Handbook updated you must contact your School Course Manager. If you're not sure who that is, you can check the Staff Directory.

If a particular room is essential to your teaching requirements and non-negotiable, you will have the opportunity to provide this information during the timetable data collection period. In some instances, you may need to provide a justification.

Draft timetables for on-campus units are built based on data collected from unit coordinators and curriculum information from a snapshot in time. The purpose of the draft period is to allow staff to review what has been built and submit change requests so that once published, students can reasonably expect the timetable to be accurate.

Once published (released to students), changes to the timetable are only possible under unforeseen extenuating circumstances, and in most cases will require Head of School approval. Any changes made to the published timetable at the request of academic staff must be communicated to students by the relevant School.

No.

We don't usually build and publish timetables for online only offerings; however, you can request one if that is your preference and the Scheduling team will happily build one.

Yes.

The majority of Intensive Schools are held face to face at either the Armidale or Sydney campuses. It is essential for a timetable to be built and published to ensure there are no double bookings of physical space, staff or students. This is particularly important for specialised teaching spaces in high demand and limited supply.

Intensive School timetables and related enrolment numbers also assist with campus planning to ensure sufficient resourcing is available and accessible at times when the campus may otherwise be closed. As many intensives run on weekends, ensuring the library, food outlets and other facilities are open is important.

Yes.

It is vitally important that this information is provided during the data collection phase to avoid problems that can lead to clash issues. If you are involved in teaching a unit in addition to or in place of the unit coordinator, please let the Scheduling team know as soon as possible so this can be built in to the system.

Please ensure you nominate someone in your school to manage this task in your absence. If you miss the deadline, and/or the timetable is published, changes will only be made in exceptional circumstances. It is unreasonable to ask for changes the week before a trimester commences particularly if you did not supply your requirements and/or did not review the draft timetable.

A number of reasons.

Scheduling of core units is prioritised, for example, first year units, units with large enrolments, units that use specialist equipment, staff who teach multiple units etc.

Also, there are highly requested days and times (between 10am – 3pm Tuesday to Thursday) and it is impossible to accommodate all teaching within this period.

Mainly, it will be because the students enrolled in your unit are already attending a class at the same time.

And lastly, we are not perfect nor is the software we use. We build in excess of 1,000 timetables each trimester so please bear this in mind when you contact us.